1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel composite and a method and apparatus for manufacturing the same. Specifically, the composite of this invention includes a reinforcing preform having a plurality of inter-crossing strands or roving arranged to form a plurality of junction points. The crossing strands or roving at each of these junction points are connected to each other by a thermoset binding material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Reinforced polymer based composites, and methods for making the same, are well known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,535,180 issued to Glen P. Gasaway on Oct. 20, 1970, discloses a plastic sheeting having a reinforcing layer disposed between two plastic plates. The reinforcing layer is an internal network fabricated from traversing two sets of equally spaced, parallel glass strands. A thermoplastic bonding material is utilized at the points of intersection of the traversing strands. This bonding material fuses the strands together to promote the stability and strength of the network. The melting point of the bonding material is less than the melting point of the glass strands. Therefore, the bonding material can be coated onto the glass strands without detrimentally affecting the integrity of the glass strands. Likewise, the melting point of the plastic plates is less than the melting point of the bonding material, thus permitting the plastic plates to be coated onto the reinforcing network.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,237 issued to William R. McKelvy on Dec. 7, 1965, illustrates a unitary plastic sheet having centrally imbedded therein a reinforcing mesh of traversing fibers. One preferred method of fabricating this sheet includes placing a non-woven network of glass scrim or the like between a polyethylene sheet and a film of substantially molten polyethylene. The outer surface of the molten polyethylene film is gradually cooled. As this outer surface cools, the molten center of the film flows through the mesh and fuses with the polyethylene sheet. After continued cooling, a highly flexible solid is formed almost entirely about the reinforcing mesh.
Other patents relating to reinforcing layers for polymer based composites are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,272,645 issued to Marcel Duhoo, et al. on Sep. 13, 1966, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,025 issued to Kenneth M. Hillas on May 13, 1969. The Duhoo, et al. patent shows a flexible laminated sheet material fabricated by coating a web of woven or non-woven material with a non-adhesive gel of thermoplastic or thermosetting material. The coated webs of this invention can be stacked upon each other and then deeply molded under heat and pressure. The Hillas patent discloses a bonded, non-woven scrim produced from two layers of essentially parallel spaced-apart strands and a layer of thermoplastic resin. This layer of thermoplastic resin is heated at a temperature above its melting temperature until it deforms under its own weight and collapses so as to surround the strands of the scrim. The entire structure is then cooled until the thermoplastic resin returns to a solid state.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.